PEORIA, Ill. – A Bradley University professor says there are some myths about just what is causing high gas and oil prices.
One of them, Assistant Economics Professor Colin Corbett says, is that the President of the United States, regardless of their political party, has that much influence over such a thing.
“The President has some control over domestic energy production — how much we drill, and where we drill, and all of that,” said Corbett. “But, that’s a small fraction of international oil production.”
Corbett says the price of oil is set on a global market, which is what drives prices here.
The problem, Corbett says, is that the whole world will be paying the price for how much other countries are paying for Russian oil. Only a small percentage of the U.S.’ oil came from there before now.
“While the U.S. might only have a small fraction of oil coming from Russia, other countries have been much more reliant on Russian oil,” Corbett said. “If they are willing to pay higher prices for oil, producers — instead of shipping to the U.S. — will ship to them.”
While those high gas prices may not go away for awhile, they may cause other problems. Chief among them, Corbett says, is the fact it will probably, at best, alter any sort of economic recovery from the early days of the pandemic.
“Energy prices affect every part of our economy, especially the sort of more physical economy, compared to, like, the knowledge economy,” said Corbett. “That leads to increased transportation costs for everyone, increased utility bills for everyone. There’s definitely the posibility of slowing down of economic growth.”
Corbett says he thinks the economy will hold up for awhile despite gas prices, but time will tell.
